Thursday, October 5, 2017

Did Stephen Paddock Make Money as a Professional Gambler?

Various reports have it that he played the video poker machines. He would sit in front of them for hours, often wagering more than $100 a hand, reportsThe New York Times

The top machines at Mandalay Bay, where Paddock often played, pay out99.17 percent, or $99.17 for every $100 wagered.

You aren't living off your gamblings with that kind of losing payout.

Paddock's brother, Eric, seems to think it was worth it for his brother to play because of the comps.

"He was a math guy. He could tell you off the top of his head what the odds were down to a tenth of a percent on whatever machine he was playing. He studied it like it was a Ph.D. thing. It was not silly gambling. It was work” said the brother, “It’s not just the machine. It’s the comps, it’s the room. It’s the 50-year-old port that costs $500 a glass. You add all that stuff together and his net is better than 100 percent.”

Yeah right. The casinos can not afford to build the fancy buildings they have by paying out more in comps then a player loses.

Paddock was not winning, even with comps calculated in, at a game that pays out 99.17%.

He made his money the old-fashioned way, bought real estate, probably early on with leverage, and waited for the Federal Reserve to print money.

1 comment:

If he was counting the comps he and the Casino can come out ahead with one simple calculation difference. The Casino counts the comps at their cost and he counts the comps at full retail price. The spread on the comps between casino cost and retail price can easily be 200% or more.